Jan. 9, 2003

Box Score

MIAMI - A confident University of Denver men's basketball team used their best shooting performance of the year, 28-of-50 (56 percent) to survive a vicious run by Florida International and earn a 71-60 victory in their first Sun Belt Conference game of the year. Denver improves to 9-6 on the year and 1-0 in the conference. The Golden Panthers fall to 6-9, 0-2.

Junior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.) led Denver with 12 points and four rebounds. The junior scored 10 of his points in the second half. Senior captain B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) each added 11 points in Denver's first road win of the year. Senior point guard Dusty Wadlington (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) dished in with a career-high eight assists.

The Pioneers' defense set the tone early holding FIU scoreless for the first 3:50. On the other half of the court Denver converted on four of its first six opportunities, opening a 10-2 lead with 14:51 remaining. The Golden Panthers responded, going on a 13-2 run during the next four minutes, trimming the Pioneers' lead to 15-12 with 11:00 left to play in the half.

With scoring from nine different players, Denver was able to increase its lead to seven (25-18) with just six minutes remaining in the first frame. The next four minutes were played even with Denver increasing its lead to eight. The Pioneers best first half shooting performance of the season, 14-of-25 (56 percent) enabled them to hold their nine-point lead at the break.

Halftime did not cool down Denver, as they continued to shoot the ball well while opening up 14-point lead with 15:30 left to play. The Pioneer pressure intensified as there lead increased to 18 (55-37) with 11:25 remaining. The Golden Panthers bit into Denver's lead, shrinking it to 13 (57-44) with only 6:29 left to play. The 7-2 run was triggered by FIU's 1-3-1 zone.

The Pioneers nursed their wound and were able to respond as junior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) completed a three-point play to give Denver a 67-55 lead with just 2:16 remaining in the contest. Denver outlasted FIU as the Golden Panthers were unable to walk through a door left very open by the Pioneers.

The Pioneers will conclude their three-game road swing on Saturday, January 11 at North Texas. Game time is set for 12:05 p.m. MST time and can be seen ESPN Regional. The contest can also be heard on AM 950 "The Fan" via tape delay at 9:30 p.m. MST.